The Smartest Thing I Did While Wedding Planning…

…was, without a doubt, to go on vacation the week before the wedding. We are currently doing that, and it is amazeballs.

I write from glorious-yet-scorching Palm Springs, where I’m working on my tan poolside with a watermelon-ginger libation Mr. Archer whipped up. There’s only one other couple and a friendly shit-tzu named Toby on the property, so we’ve had the pool and deck totally to ourselves, beyond our cute little condo.

looking through my iPhone

We’ve tried to have both fun and focus on this getaway. With the wedding day ever-rushing sooner, we knew we’d need to delegate some time for the almighty wedding to-do list. So we have, and we’re doing pretty well! While here, we’ve organized our rehearsal dinner menu and details, crafted our ceremony text, touched base with most of our vendors and bridal party members, organized the day-of timeline, and more—we even shipped boxes of decor from Palm Springs! Not gonna lie, all this was way more fun / less stressful with incredible views like this…

We needed some serious sunscreen to hold court with the desert sun, and, of course, serve as a prop for selfies. Aren’t we tough?

We’ve also hung out with the hummingbirds in the courtyard, laid out in the sunshine, enjoyed midday poolside cocktails as well as naps, grilled some delicious treats, and done our best to unwind after a crazy-hectic few months. Highlights have been sleeping in, sunsets over the mountains and alfresco brunches.

Now, getting a little prewedding r+r need not be expensive—we got a LivingSocial voucher for this trip, or elaborate—you don’t even need to leave home! What I think was most important for us was just taking some time to balance all the myriad wedding things that need doing with some “us” time. Hopefully we’re sufficiently rested and rejuvenated for the final run up to the wedding!

What did you do to preserve/renew your sanity in the final wedding windup?

This is a fantastic idea, I only wish someone would have forced this on me so I could actually enjoy the last bits of wedding planning 🙂 Hope you have the best time relaxing and getting ready for your wedding!

We are definitely looking at doing this! And we’ll either do a livingsocial/groupon deal or take a short cruise. We live in Florida so finding a great view should be easy to find! Glad we aren’t the only ones with this idea.